Before taking their long-standing spat outside in front of a six-figure crowd at the Big House, the Maple Leafs and Red Wings have a none-too-small indoor game that’s huge in its own way.

The injury-riddled Wings and the wayward Leafs meet Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre, neither playing up to the level of ‘Classic’ to which their New Year’s Day match in Ann Arbor, Mich., has been billed.

Both clubs had worrisome losing streaks up to their shootout victories on Thursday and have shared the often unwanted attention of HBO’s 24/7 cameras swirling about the past couple of weeks. The build-up to the Winter Classic is quickly usurping the four games still on Toronto’s schedule, so Saturday serves as an appetizer.

“I just look at it as an important game on our schedule,” said Leafs coach Randy Carlyle of the two points separating the clubs. “Detroit has a lot depth on their club and a tradition of winning. We’ve had our challenges of late and are trying to use (Thursday’s 2-1 win over Phoenix) as a starting point to build something.”

Under a roof or not, the first two regular season meetings of the old geo-rivals, who are back in the same division for the first time since 1998, has a nostalgic air about it. This is a big deal for the fans, especially those coming of age in the 1980s and ’90s Norris Division days, when there were frequent playoff clashes.

Toronto-born and raised Leafs such as David Clarkson would recall his hero, Wendel Clark, had a memorable series against the Wings 20 years ago.

There is some fresh incentive in the new series, with Detroit expected to start former Leaf Jonas Gustavsson in net ahead of the injured Jimmy Howard. Whether he didn’t click with the Leafs goalie coach of that period, Francois Allaire, whether he was hurt too much or just not the right man for the job, Gustavsson couldn’t stay consistent and get the Leafs into post-season play.

Brought to town with the over-hyped nickname of The Monster, he was passed on the depth chart, first by James Reimer and then Ben Scrivens, eventually signing with the Wings last year.

“It was a lot of learning (in Toronto),” Gustavsson told the Detroit media on Friday. “Obviously, we didn’t make the playoffs and that was disappointment.

“For myself, I felt right away I got a chance to play and get some experience. That was really good for me. And then of course, I had some good stretches and some not-so-good stretches.”

In 2011-12, his last season in blue and white, his record was 17-17-4 with a .902 save percentage.

“I think both (he and the team) felt it was time to move on,” Gustavsson said. “For me, it was time to find another challenge. For them, it was probably a good period to move on too.”

It would be interesting to see how he fares head to head against Reimer, but if Jonathan Bernier has recovered from his sore hip following Monday’s collision with Pittsburgh’s Jayson Megna, he’ll likely get the nod. The pain was too great to take his regular turn in the rotation Thursday, but Reimer did well.

More than 10 combined regulars on both teams are out at present and some could miss the Classic, as well. Detroit had lost six straight before beating Calgary on Thursday.

After his team lost 10 of 13 games, Carlyle seemed to hit on the right lineup Thursday. He enjoyed improved efforts from Clarkson, a rare goal from the fourth line (Troy Bodie) and a general compete level that had been missing.

Carlyle wanted his team to win more “50-50” puck battles and they did so Thursday.

“That’s part of building that box within,” Carlyle said. “The motivation is built within. The great players in the league find ways to continually rise to the occasion.

“We have to continue to try and keep things to the outside. One thing we have to concentrate on are the positives of defensive zone coverage. You’ll win a lot of games if your keep your goals against to one.”

The Leafs have their last pre-Christmas game in New York on Monday against the Rangers, then play Buffalo and Carolina before flying to Ann Arbor on Dec. 30.

“We just want to make a stand tomorrow night,” said defenceman Carl Gunnarsson. “It will be good (getting a preview of Detroit’s) special teams.”

Both teams have been trying to work around HBO’s blanket coverage. Reimer joked it’s a challenge to have a film crew “in your kitchen” during team meetings and while Carlyle has made it clear that he finds the filming intrusive, he’s learning to cope with the league-mandated project.

“It’s not normal what we’re living right now,” Carlyle said. “I’ve talked about white noise and distractions (harming the Leafs). This is just another one. These (HBO people) are professional, they’re trying to make it as easy as possible for us, but it’s not easy to have a team meeting with a camera and microphone.

“They’re trying not to be in your face all the time and be respectful of your privacy, but it’s just not something we’re used to.”

And, as Gunnarsson pointed out, at least Saturday’s opposition has the same obstacle.

Maple Leafs, Red Wings square off in Winter Classic preview

Before taking their long-standing spat outside in front of a six-figure crowd at the Big House, the Maple Leafs and Red Wings have a none-too-small indoor game that’s huge in its own way.

The injury-riddled Wings and the wayward Leafs meet Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre, neither playing up to the level of ‘Classic’ to which their New Year’s Day match in Ann Arbor, Mich., has been billed.

Both clubs had worrisome losing streaks up to their shootout victories on Thursday and have shared the often unwanted attention of HBO’s 24/7 cameras swirling about the past couple of weeks. The build-up to the Winter Classic is quickly usurping the four games still on Toronto’s schedule, so Saturday serves as an appetizer.